Butler v Setches

In Butler v Setches, the applicant sought a declaration that certain decisions made by the National Council of the Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU) were invalid, and an order that those decisions be disregarded. The dispute arose from the applicant's removal from office following findings that she was guilty of two charges under the Rules of the CEPU. The first charge was that she had serially failed to attend meetings of the National Council without good cause, and the second charge was that she had breached her "fiduciary duty" to the CEPU by doing so. The court had to determine whether the decisions of the National Council were in accordance with the Rules, whether reasonable people acting honestly could have reached those decisions, and whether certain members of the National Council were invincibly biased against the applicant.

The court found that the National Council had either misunderstood or ignored the rules regarding attendance at meetings. The court also found that certain members of the National Council were invincibly biased against the applicant due to their prior antagonistic behavior towards her. This bias, coupled with their failure to recuse themselves from the proceedings, meant that the decisions to find the applicant guilty and to remove her from office could not stand. The court held that the decisions were not in accordance with the Rules, and that reasonable people acting honestly could not have reached the same conclusions. The court therefore declared the decisions to be null and void.

The court made orders that the decisions of the National Council be treated as null and void, and gave the parties time to make submissions regarding costs. The applicant was required to file and serve any submissions she wished to make by a certain date, and the respondents were required to file and serve any submissions in reply by a later date. The orders were to be entered in accordance with Rule 39.32 of the Federal Court Rules 2011.